About 198.18.0.0/15 segment

Question

What exactly is the use case of 198.18.0.0/15 segment

As per whois records, this segment is reserved as depicting below -

NetRange:   198.18.0.0 - 198.19.255.255
CIDR:   198.18.0.0/15
NetName:    SPECIAL-IPV4-BENCHMARK-TESTING-IANA-RESERVED

Can i use this segment like the way i use 10/8 as private one in my enterprise network or is this segment for any other special purpose ?

That is a potentially routable space, There is also [100.64.0.0/10](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6598#section-7) — NiKiZe, Aug 24 '21 at 16:00
@NiKiZe: I've seen providers use these address spaces when setting up B2B links. There's also vendors that have apps that intercommunicate, I've seen one using 100.64. — Greg Askew, Aug 24 '21 at 18:44

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 24 '21 at 15:44

2

According to RFC 6815, this subnet is used for benchmarking inter-network communications. I would not recommend using this as a private network space.

answered Aug 24 '21 at 15:44

doneal24

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why so ? what can be the potential issues if i use 198.18/15 as private segment like the way we all use 10/8 – Gaurav Kansal Aug 24 '21 at 15:50
@GauravKansal 198.15 is a routable address. You sure you don't want to use `1.1.0.0/16`? It's been done before. – doneal24 Aug 24 '21 at 16:42
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More to the point, it says that such packets may be discarded. Only equipment under test can reasonably be expected to act on packets with these addresses. – Michael Hampton Aug 24 '21 at 17:15
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RFC 6815 is an Informational RFC, not a Standards Track RFC. – Ron Maupin Aug 25 '21 at 02:51
@RonMaupin what's the difference between Informational and standard track rfc ? – Gaurav Kansal Aug 25 '21 at 13:24
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See [this fairly comprehensive answer](https://serverfault.com/a/755655/324849). – Ron Maupin Aug 25 '21 at 13:52

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 24 '21 at 20:45

Regarding the special purpose to that net, RFC 6815 is titled RFC 2544: Use on Production Networks Considered Harmful as a warning about such traffic generation until loss test procedures. Some in the ITEF argue so strongly about the need to air gap such a test procedure they added a dedicated private address space, and wrote a statement.

That is not the kind of network I would want to steal addresses from. Not in real networks outside the test lab. Low probability some network gear's RFC2544 test suite takes those addresses and makes something fall over, but potentially high impact.

For as much pristine, never before used address space as you need, implement IPv6.

About 198.18.0.0/15 segment

2 Answers2